"Dinner Rush" is a 2000 film starring Danny Aiello, Edoardo Ballerini, John Corbett, Polly Draper, Kirk Acevedo, and Sandra Bernhard, directed by Bob Giraldi, and written by Rick Shaughnessy and Brian Kalata.
The story concerns a very trendy Soho restaurant owned by Louis Cropa; his son Udo (Ballerini) is the popular chef, who makes nouvelle cuisine with an Italian slant. The place is packed to the rafters every night, though Louis doesn't really approve of these dishes, which are not straight down the line Italian. Udo wants to take over the restaurant but so far, his father is resistant.
We learn the history of the place early on -- Louis and his partner were low-level bookies using the restaurant as a front, and when some thugs from Queens wanted a partnership in the restaurant, Louis' partner refused them and is later killed on the street. Louis no longer takes bets and has turned legitimate. However, he can't control Duncan (Acevedo), who works at the restaurant and is a compulsive gambler, now into these same guys for $13,000. On this particular night, the queens thugs come into the restaurant on the invitation of Louis; but he has also invited a police detective (Walt MacPherson) and his wife to be his guests for dinner.
What makes this film is the atmosphere, a very typical one for an upscale restaurant with repeat, high profile clientèle. The wait staff is incredibly gracious to some very demanding customers, and there are many perks if you had to wait too long in line or if the boss knows you.
The kitchen, however, is like the wild west, with all kinds of screaming and throwing things, and Udo losing his temper. It's all absolutely perfect and really makes you feel as if you're there.
The performances are excellent, from Aiello's underplayed, honest performance, to John Corbett relaxing at the bar and talking to a woman there to meet someone who doesn't show, to Ballerini's intense, artistic Udo, proud of his accomplishments, and finally to Aceveda's messed up Duncan, working and trying to listen to a race at the same time, realizing it's another bad bet, and meeting his girlfriend for stolen moments on the fire escape.
The end of the film, though I expected some of it, changes the atmosphere drastically in seconds.
Truly fantastic film that took me through something I experienced many times while living in New York. Highly recommended.
The story concerns a very trendy Soho restaurant owned by Louis Cropa; his son Udo (Ballerini) is the popular chef, who makes nouvelle cuisine with an Italian slant. The place is packed to the rafters every night, though Louis doesn't really approve of these dishes, which are not straight down the line Italian. Udo wants to take over the restaurant but so far, his father is resistant.
We learn the history of the place early on -- Louis and his partner were low-level bookies using the restaurant as a front, and when some thugs from Queens wanted a partnership in the restaurant, Louis' partner refused them and is later killed on the street. Louis no longer takes bets and has turned legitimate. However, he can't control Duncan (Acevedo), who works at the restaurant and is a compulsive gambler, now into these same guys for $13,000. On this particular night, the queens thugs come into the restaurant on the invitation of Louis; but he has also invited a police detective (Walt MacPherson) and his wife to be his guests for dinner.
What makes this film is the atmosphere, a very typical one for an upscale restaurant with repeat, high profile clientèle. The wait staff is incredibly gracious to some very demanding customers, and there are many perks if you had to wait too long in line or if the boss knows you.
The kitchen, however, is like the wild west, with all kinds of screaming and throwing things, and Udo losing his temper. It's all absolutely perfect and really makes you feel as if you're there.
The performances are excellent, from Aiello's underplayed, honest performance, to John Corbett relaxing at the bar and talking to a woman there to meet someone who doesn't show, to Ballerini's intense, artistic Udo, proud of his accomplishments, and finally to Aceveda's messed up Duncan, working and trying to listen to a race at the same time, realizing it's another bad bet, and meeting his girlfriend for stolen moments on the fire escape.
The end of the film, though I expected some of it, changes the atmosphere drastically in seconds.
Truly fantastic film that took me through something I experienced many times while living in New York. Highly recommended.